Greetings from Kuwait! I made it here in one piece, all bags in tact, ready for the next phase of my life. My vanilla extract also made it through. We were met at the airport and given an allowance, water, and porters took our bags so we didn’t even need to touch them once we got off the plane. There were about 38 new teachers on the plane, most of whom I met in Frankfurt, but about 10 had already arrived or have just recently arrived since. We got through the 40 degree nighttime heat and to our apartments—mine is huge with enormous windows and secret access to the roof between two buildings (even though I’m only on the 3rd floor), but it has gold fabric on all the couches, with gold curtains, and light blue ... read more

Here it is, June 13th, and I have only a handful of days teaching my current students, and a week and a half of exam invigilation before it's back to Canada! I'm baffled by time sometimes, as I assume everyone is, but teaching really passes by in the cliched blink of an eye. I guess it's because every day is so different, there are always a thousand things to plan, mark, and monitor; there are always students to encourage, console, and advise. The past two months have been filled with exam planning, department head wrap-up meetings, and school play preparation. The school play (The Wizard of Oz musical) had its grande opening and finale this past Wednesday and Thursday nights, and it was phenomenal! It was really cool to be a part of this production. My ... read more

Winter break has come and gone again. I started getting ancy for my trip right around Christmas, when I threw my 2nd annual (smash-hit) brunch (attended by approximately 40 of my lovely co-workers). I was cautiously making general plans for my trip: I knew I wanted to go to Cambodia and Vietnam, but didn’t want to cram a lot of physical movement onto my travel platter. I decided to just go to the usual suspects in Cambodia, and to limit my travel in Vietnam to the south (where I could easily move around by bus or boat within a few hours), so that I could end my trip on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc. I flew first to Bangkok; it’s a round-about way to go, but it was the cheapest ticket from Dalian. I’ve spent ... read more

Four weeks in Canada have flown by. My trip from Thailand left me exhausted and over-tired, but on arriving (after flying Bangkok-Beijing-Dalian-Tokyo-Vancouver), I was perkier than I thought I would be, and immediately lunched with the ever-wonderful Jocelyn and Dee, lay on the beach in Kitsilano staring at the mountains, and then having a few drinks and watching the fireworks before crashing at 11pm. I spent my first few days back in my homeland sunning, drinking, and eating--quite the luxurious holiday! From Vancouver I travelled to Northern Alberta where I visited the prettiest pregnant lady you ever did see, my splendid friend Melissa. She and I (and her husband before he had to leave for camp) shopped, cooked (well, they cooked for me--I barely lifted a finger due to their capable hospitality), and sat in the ... read more

The months since the spring holiday have been filled with visits, weekend trips, and surprising changes. My delightful parents came for a three week visit and toured me around Qingdao (home of the 2008 Olympic sailing port) and Dandong (directly on North Korea's shores); I partook in a glamourous photo shoot that lasted 10 hours without food and learned a model's life isn't actually as easy as it looks (photos to be added later this week); and I accepted a position as co-department head for English 10 in September (where I will be heading the boy's campus). My parents, if anything on their visit, fed me well. We ate every possible type of food available to us (which spanned from Chinese to Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Italian, and "Western"). Qingdao was a cool city with a very ... read more